


does the shoe fit you now

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Age Difference, F/M, Het, Rare Pair, Romance, Spookyflashweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-29 03:23:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5114180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Caitlin loses her shoes. Joe finds them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	does the shoe fit you now

**Author's Note:**

> For SpookyFlashWeek day 2: fairytale au. I may have taken liberties.

"Hey, Cinderella." 

If Joe wasn't already smiling when he said those words, Caitlin's reaction - the quick turn of her head, the blush that coats her cheeks - would have done it. She shakes her head with a rueful purse of her lips and looks down; her hair, not so long ago carefully swept up into one of those half up half down styles that he loves on her, is now mostly down and hides her expression from him for a moment. Only for a moment though and by the time he's taken his first steps into the cortex, a pair of strappy silver high heels dangling from his hand, she's looking back at him, all smiles now. 

"My handsome prince," she says, fairly batting her eyelashes for emphasis but he's not going to be distracted. 

Much. 

"Imagine my surprise," he says as he approaches her. "There we are, looking for evidence, when what do I find under the table, right where the place cards say you were sitting..."

Caitlin presses her lips together, looks up at him through her lashes. "Barry whisked me away too quickly to grab them."

Which is what he'd figured : Barry's briefs for the night had been to catch the bad guys and get Caitlin out of there if things went south and Joe hadn't been overly specific on what order they were in. "Which begs the question of why they were there in the first place, instead of on your feet..."

Sighing, Caitlin rolls her eyes. "Fine, you told me so."  He had, but he'd never say it, just chuckles instead. "Besides, doesn't this constitute tampering with a crime scene, Detective?" There's a teasing note sneaking into her voice, turnabout being fair play and all that. "Removal of evidence?"

Joe shrugs. "I figured they weren't crucial to the investigation," he tells her, then shrugs. "Besides, I was kinda hoping I'd get out of having to shopping with you to replace them."

"Don't be silly, Joe." Caitlin's voice is silky sweet as she lays a hand on his chest and smiles up at him. It strikes fear into his heart until she continues with, "That's why I have Iris."

Putting his hand over hers, he doesn't try to hide his relief. "And there I thought the love you had in common was for me."

Caitlin wrinkles her nose in exaggerated thought. "Do we have to choose?" she finally asks and he laughs out loud at that, pulls her into his arms for a hug and kisses the top of her head. She falls against him, pressing her head into his chest and makes a little noise at the back of her throat. He doesn't have to be a detective to know what that means. 

"Come on," he says, leaning back a little so he can look down at her, frowning at the dark shadows he can see even through the makeup, smudges of black eyeliner and mascara deepening the ones so expertly concealed. "Let's get you home." 

There's that little sound again, accompanied by a look at her shoes, now sitting on the console. He should, he realises, have known how tired she was when she didn't give him hell for dropping them there. "I need to put my shoes back on." She sounds spectacularly unenthused by the idea, one hand reaching around to rub at her back and he takes pity on her. 

"Well, I'm not carrying you..." he mock-grumbles, although he would if he thought she'd let him away with it. Instead he takes the shoes, drops down to one knee in front of her and orders, "Lift." 

"My hero." She's about to do as he says when there's a stifled squeak from the doorway and Joe turns his head to see Cisco standing there, staring at them with wide eyes and a grin on his face that is hastily hidden when he claps his hands over his mouth. 

"Oh my God," he says, or at least that's what the muffled exclamation sounds like. He drops his hands to clap them together once. "I'll leave you guys... I won't tell... I'll just be..." He's gone, leaving sentence fragments in his wake and Joe realises too late what it must have looked like to Cisco. He looks up at Caitlin, whose shoulders are shaking with silent laughter. 

"Do you want to tell him, or should I?" he asks and she shakes her head, reaches down with her left hand to cup his cheek. 

"We should have told them all weeks ago," she reminds him and he reaches up to touch her hand, thumb and index finger circling the skin at the base of the fourth finger, empty for the moment until the jeweller finishes resizing the ring they picked out the previous week. 

"Tomorrow," he promises, finishing off his job and standing up, taking both her hands in his as he raises them to his lips. "I've got plans for us tonight."


End file.
